Halley's Comet

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/halley-s-comet

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the designation?1P/Halley
2. What is the orbital period range?74 to 79 Earth years
3. Why does Halley's Comet bring meteor showers?The comet leaves a trail of dust and ice behind it. When Earth passes through this trail, the particles burn up and create the Eta Aquariids in May and the Orionids in October.
4. How do scientists know when Halley's Comet will return?By studying old records and using Newton's laws, Edmond Halley showed that the same comet appeared in 1531, 1607, and 1682, and predicted it would come back in 1758. This shows its 76‑year orbit.

Periodic Comet: A comet that returns to the inner solar system at regular, predictable intervals.
Retrograde Orbit: An orbit in which a celestial body moves in the opposite direction to the rotation of the primary body.
Perihelion: The point in the orbit of a planet or comet where it is closest to the Sun.
Albedo: The measure of the reflectivity of a surface; the fraction of incident light or radiation that is reflected.